Arisha Salman

Financial Sector Specialist

Arisha Salman is a Financial Sector Specialist with CGAP’s Finance for Inclusive Development outcome area. Her work is focused on unlocking how Data can enhance the value of financial services for low-income and underserved individuals with a focus on the development, implementation, and scale-up of Open Finance frameworks as well as on closing gender gaps at the country level. Arisha was also a member of the team that developed the Strategy for CGAP VII. She previously supported CGAP’s work on Digital Business Models with a focus on Inclusive Digital Banking and the Digital Divide.

Before joining CGAP, Arisha worked for over five years on digital financial inclusion, SME development and gender mainstreaming in South and Southeast Asia. She has held positions as a Management Consultant with the Financial Services Practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers and with the Gender Equity Thematic Group at the Asian Development Bank. Arisha holds a master's degree in public administration from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and an undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of Delhi. She is fluent in Hindi and Urdu.

By Arisha Salman

Blog

Convenience Drives Rapid Adoption of Account Aggregators in India

Open finance in India has grown rapidly, with a significant rise in linked accounts through Account Aggregators (AAs). New CGAP research offers insights on key drivers of AA adoption and areas for improvement to enhance customer experience.
Research

The Role of Data in Inclusive Insurance

With 3.8 billion people in emerging markets lacking adequate insurance coverage, data plays a crucial role in enabling insurers to comprehend these segments' specific needs and risk profiles. This, in turn, helps develop more accurate risk assessment and pricing models for inclusive insurance offerings.
Blog

Trust and Awareness Will Be Key for Open Finance Adoption in India

India is pioneering open finance in developing economies, with 64 million accounts linked through its Account Aggregator ecosystem as of March 2024. As India continues to scale the ecosystem, early insights could help shape AA's future direction.
Blog

Success in Open Finance Requires Trust – Lessons from Brazil

Brazil's rapid expansion of open finance shows its potential to transform financial services, and recent CGAP research offers valuable insights into Brazil, as well as other markets interested in implementing open finance.
Blog

As More Low-Income People Generate Digital Trails, Women Lag Behind

Women are lagging behind men in digital access and the generation of digital footprints, which can lead to further disadvantages in financial access and usage. We discuss how financial service providers and authorities can address these gaps.